1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to vehicle seating and, more particularly, to a seat including energy-absorbing deformable structural material for dissipating the force of a side impact collision.
2. Related Art
Efforts have long been made to improve the crash worthiness of transportation vehicles in order to minimize the severity of injuries to occupants. One particular emphasis has been to provide a seat that is capable of absorbing impact energy in a controlled manner so as to reduce or prevent the occurrence of and the severity of injuries to the occupants. These attempts include strengthened seat frames, seat frames including springs or other biasing elements to control movement of the seat upon impact with the vehicle, or seat frames including an encapsulated deformation element permitting breakaway movement of the seat from the frame upon exertion of a pre-determined force. These seats require relatively complex seat frame designs, which include relatively complex constructions and bulkiness, and therefore suffer from a relatively high cost of manufacture and installation. Further, many of these seats are not aesthetically pleasing.
A need exists for an improved vehicle seat that is capable of absorbing the energy of impact in a collision to thereby reduce or eliminate injury to occupants. Preferably, such a seat is aesthetically pleasing and is readily adaptable to a variety of existing vehicle structures while maintaining relative ease of installation and manufacture and requiring only minimal or no increase in cost when compared to presently available seating.